House of The Dragon-A God Amongst Men-Chapter 153: State of Crisis

(Third Person POV)

[King's Landing]

"Your Grace....!" Lord Rodrik Arryn walked up the hallway and towards the King, "You summoned me? House Dayne has some of their forces rallied and ready to move out. I had my men as well."

Jaehaerys nodded, "This is a matter of upmost importance, Lord Rodrik." He said, "For the sake of my Family, I must stay strong. You have heard of the tragic news?"

He nodded, "Yes." He said, "I am very sorry for your losses..."

"It pains me." Jaehaerys said as he walked past, "But we must focus on the current matter at hand; Driftmark is lost."

"What?!" Rodrik exclaimed

"Drakken unleashed a beast of unimaginable power and horror upon it." He continued, "And as that happened, he left the Capital and is now on his way to the Stormlands. Before we follow, I need to do something."

He stopped and looked at him.

Rodrik frowned, "Your Grace?"

"An emergency wedding." Jaehaerys said, "To further seal our Houses' alliance, I will have you wed Daella today. I need you to consummate the marriage as soon as possible and put a child in her. That way, Drakken will drift his gaze away from her. I cannot do anything about Saera, but at the very least, one of my daughters will be safe from him."

"Your Grace...." Rodrik said

"Before you leave to the battlefield, I will grant you this privilege." Jaehaerys said, "I am counting on you. We have been deceived by Drakken, made believe that we could kill him. But it matters not, what matters is that we put a stop to this war of his. And if we can push the Essosi away, we will broker an agreement with him."

"Of course...." Rodrik said, "As you desire, Your Grace."

Jaehaerys nodded, "Right..." He said, "We have much to do."

"We should prepare."

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[The Next Day]

After Daella and Rodrik's quick ceremony to signify their marriage, the Lord of House Arryn marched out of King's Landing with his men to head towards the Stormlands, where Lord Baratheon had requested for help. He had managed to consummate the marriage, and with the hope that Daella soon would be with child, Rodrik set out without looking back to join the fighting.

Jaehaerys was skeptical about this decision but it was something he needed to do. Alysanne was also skeptical but considering they were betrothed, she had no objections. The ceremony was but a small and rather quick one. Only Alyssa was in attendance, showing support to her younger sister as Aemon and Baelon were sulking in their quarters and Saera was uninterested in anything other than Drakken.

Baelon wanted to set out to the Stormlands, but Jaehaerys told him to hold on, the fact that he recklessly lost Vhagar was not something that boded well with the King. They had to think about their moves carefully, considering what had happened with Driftmark, nothing but destruction.

The news of Driftmark's devastation spread throughout the Realm, shocking everyone who heard about it. House Velaryon was not spared; the entirety of it was completely obliterated by Drakken's wyvern, Grayle.

Despite his hardest efforts, Baelon was unable to do anything about it. No matter how many times he tried getting Balerion to burn Grayle, the Wyvern was simply uninterested in the Black Dread.

After the devastation was complete, Grayle simply retreated back Harrenhal, where the Duskguard was mobilized and ready to defend the castle. Mya and Daranne were sitting in the castle, a bit confused of what had transpired but felt no need to worry about anything. They knew that despite their Lord not being there, Harrenhal was the safest location to be in. And while the sight of Grayle was an imposing and intimidating one, they did not think anything bad would come of it.

And they were right; Grayle simply followed his directive and was done, Drakken had no other use for him other than to display overwhelming power.

Drakken left King's Landing with Maegelle and set out to join his Duskguard in the Stormlands, completely satisfied with the results of his scheme.

For him, it was the beginning of a period of fun. He didn't care how many lives were lost, how many go through despair, he simply wanted to entertain himself with the chaos of War and Conquest. He wanted to destroy armies, slaughter men, and devastate regions with his power. It was the allure of his Calamity, the desire to spread chaos.

Despite Maegelle's influence, Drakken was well aware of what he was; A Walking Disaster.

And he wished to remind everyone around him.

The entire world would be well aware of his presence after this.

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[A Duskguard Encampment, The Stormlands]

"My Lord, we have wiped out an entire force of Essosi." a soldier reported to Drakken in his tent, "We have reason to believe that they would be replaced by incoming forces that will make landfall from sea."

Drakken was looking at the map in front of him, which was covered in a strange glowing membrane, "Is that so?" He said, "Very well....."

"What is your command?" The soldier asked

He placed his hand on the side of the map, tracing along the coast of the Stormlands, "Reinforce the borders." He said, "Take out any resisting Stormlander.....this entire region is marked, it is within my field.....I will walk the land and raise them to submission....The God of War will show his power...."

He nodded, "As you command." He said, "What of the Dornish? They are circling around our perimeter, and it seems they will regroup with the King's armies."

"Let them." Drakken said, "We will wipe out the Essosi and if they want to dance, we shall....it is that simple. Inform Jon to fortify the perimeter around our conquered region, make the Baratheons think twice about inching closer."

He bowed slightly and turned around, walking out of the tent.

Drakken looked at the map, smirking slightly, "Do you have something to say, my sweet?" He said without looking up, "Does this bother you?"

"...Not as much as I hoped..." Maegelle said

She was sitting down on a chair, in the corner of the tent, looking down as she held a cup of water in her hands.

Drakken straightened up and looked back at her, "You should know by now....." He said, "This is who I am, Maegelle. This is who you were given to...."

"I know." She said softly, "I know that very well....."

"And....?" Drakken said, "Do you have something on your mind?"

She looked up, a strange look of sorrow in her eyes, "I..." She said, "I am a terrible person...."

"What makes you say that?" Drakken asked her, "Do not say foolish things....."

She stood up and walked towards Drakken, "I know the kind of man you are...." She said, "You are a brutal.....merciless....bloodlusted individual who cares solely about brutalizing others.....torment....suffering...bloodshed...that is all you inflict on everything around you..."

"Hm." Drakken said as he tilted his head

"But....." She said as she hung her head, "None of it bothers me....it does not....repulse me...which is not something I expected of myself. I am not....disgusted by your actions, Drakken.....d-does that make me a horrible person?"

"No." Drakken said with a slight smirk, "Morality is subjective. Sure, there are lines that I don't cross.....But I don't do it out of morals, I do it because it is a choice I make. I can cross said lines and I won't feel a thing.....or at least, I think so."

"Drakken...." Maegelle said softly

"What I do....." Drakken said, "How different is it from anyone else in this wretched world? Your Kings, your Lords, your armies....everyone and everything in this land is as vile as I am. How many centuries of warring and pillaging....of raping and murdering.....has this land seen? I'll give you an answer, too many to count. My actions are simply seen as worse because of the power I wield, because of what I am. If anyone else had this same amount of power, they would do the same.....so no, Maegelle, you are not a bad person if you are not surprised or bothered by my actions...."

She looked at him, saying nothing.

"You are a pure soul..." Drakken said softly as he patted her cheek, "A good person....a beautiful woman.....one that this evil god has taken an interest in.....it is within my nature, rightfully so, to destroy everything in my path.....it is what I am, Maegelle. Nothing and nobody can change that....you have done well, your influence...your mere existence.....has forced a restraint on me.....but all good things come to an end, Maegelle...even that restraint.....but....be proud...you have saved thousands of lives over the years...." frёewebηovel.cѳm

"And you never did a thing."